7.  The applicants are involved in a long-standing dispute with the State concerning the ownership of a plot of land known as “Omorphokklisia” in Galatsi, a suburb of Athens. This land is included in a wider area called the “Veïkou Estate”. The applicants have so far obtained a number of rulings in their favour from the civil courts and the public prosecutors of the Athens first instance and appeal courts. On several occasions, the State authorities have either claimed that the land in question was a forest or that it was not.
8.  In 1934 the Ministry of Agriculture took a reforestation decision (no. 108424/1934) concerning a wider region in Attica, which included Athens, Piraeus and the suburbs. According to that decision, the area “consisted, before the destruction and downgrading of the forest vegetation ..., of pine-tree forest which was progressively downgraded and tended to disappear ...”
9.  In a document of the Forest Inspection of Athens of 14 November 1968, it was stated that half of the area which included the applicants’ land was agricultural and half covered by bush and five pine-trees. The Forest Inspection expressed the opinion that, considering the morphology of the area, it has never been a forest and could not be reforested, since the decision of the Ministry of Agriculture of 1934 excluded from the scope of the reforestation barren lands or plots owned by individuals. The Forest Inspection concluded that the city plan could be extended to the impugned area.
10.  On 6 September 1994 the prefect of Athens declared an area within the Veïkou Estate, including the applicants’ land, “reafforestable” (it should be turned back into a forest). As it was expressly stated in the prefect’s decision, the aim was “... to recreate the forest greenery destroyed or downgraded by illegal quarry activities and other illegal actions such as land clearing, constructions etc. in an area of 284 000 square meters” (decision no. 3015/1994). On 10 October 1994 the prefect took a similar decision for another area of the Veïkou Estate.
11.  On 10 November 1994 the applicants challenged decision no. 3015/1994 before the Supreme Administrative Court. They claimed that they were owners of properties that originated from the parcelling of a broader area included in the major area known as “Veïkou Estate” and which were located inside the reafforestable area. In particular, in their appeal, they contended that the prefect’s decision lacked reasons and aimed at depriving them of any property or possession rights on the contested plot. In their additional observations of 3 March 1999 they claimed that the prefect’s decision was an operative act, in particular because it was issued after a new assessment of the factual situation (pages 55-59 of the applicants’ memorial). They further contended that the cause of the adoption of that decision was the attempt of the State to create a dispute over their property or possession rights, although the legal conditions for the issuance of such a decision were not met since the area never constituted a forest in the past.
12.  On 14 December 1994 the applicants invited the State to purchase the plot in question from them according to the procedure prescribed by Law no. 998/1979. The authorities did not reply.
13.  On 22 October 1999 the Forest Inspection of Athens qualified as “reafforestable” according to the procedure prescribed by Law no. 998/1979 an area of approximately 189 sq. m. located within the area concerned by the prefect’s decision of 10 October 1994 (see paragraph 10 above). The Forest Inspection concluded that only 20 sq. m. of that surface was forest and should be reforested. The Committee for the Settlement of Forest Disputes confirmed that decision and an appeal is now pending before the Appeal Committee.
14.  On 5 June 2000 the Supreme Administrative Court accepted that the applicants, who “were considered owners”, had locus standi. It declared their appeal inadmissible on the ground that the prefect’s decision was not an operative act since it simply confirmed the decision issued by the Minister of Agriculture in 1934. In particular, the court held that the decision of 1934 remained in force because no other act, of an equivalent force, had reversed it. The subsequent acts of the Administration, such as the interpretation of some aerial photos, could not be considered as a new assessment of the situation which could give to the decision of the prefect an operative character (judgment no. 1968/2000).
15.  In various judgments delivered during the past years the Greek courts have had the occasion to decide the property status of part of the Veïkou Estate (judgments nos. 8864/1995 of the Athens First Instance Court, 8314/1996, 9632/2000 of the Athens Court of Appeal and 1359/2002 of the Court of Cassation). The courts have recognised that a number of plots which were situated in the greater area of the Veïkou Estate did not constitute a forest but were private properties which were included in the development plan of the city. Some other judicial decisions (judgments nos. 13789/1977, 1865/1992 and 1783/1997 of the Athens First Instance Court, 7350/1978 of the Athens Court of Appeal and 696/1980 of the Court of Cassation), concluded that the greater area, which comprised the properties claimed by the applicants, had never been a forest in the past.